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November 09, 2004

A Review of Thomas Keller's Bouchon Cookbook

Using any recipe involves a great deal of trust. Personally, I’d much rather pay $50 for a cookbook with recipes that are well-written and accurate, than take a chance with recipes from an unknown source. For the cost of ingredients and the time I spend making a dish, I feel I owe it to myself to make sure I’m working with the best recipe I can find.

Although recipes for French comfort food are easy to come by, I had been eagerly anticipating Thomas Keller’s cookbook on the subject for the past year. If you're familiar with my blog, you may have noticed that I’m a big fan of Keller’s French Laundry Cookbook. Not only do his dishes taste wonderful, but his techniques and preparations are more refined than any other cookbook I’ve seen. And while it’s true that the amount of refinement can make his dishes long and elaborate, everything is done for a reason, and the results have always been worth it.

Three weeks ago when Keller’s Bouchon cookbook finally arrived, I was bouncing off the wall with excitement, and then I was blown away. Much like his food, attention has been paid to the smallest of details in this book. The writing and photographs are beautiful, and the recipes I’ve tried so far have been delicious.

Each section begins with an essay about the importance of the particular topic, or about an aspect of bistro cuisine. For instance, in the Quiches section, Keller writes about the qualities of a great quiche, its history, the tools needed, and the proper technique. He then explains in exacting detail how to make a basic quiche shell and a basic quiche batter. Finally, he provides recipes for four classic variations including Quiche Lorraine and Quiche Forestière, before moving onto the next subject, Tartines.

In addition to the essays that begin each section, each recipe also starts with a brief blurb about the importance of the particular recipe, or with a few useful hints. Above all else however, the blurbs, essays and recipes convey the passion with which Keller approaches food. It’s like he’s talking to you – telling you why you should care, before guiding you step by step through each recipe. Though not every recipe has a picture, they seem to be there whenever they’re needed. And as with The French Laundry Cookbook, the photography is beautiful and meaningful.

The recipes in Bouchon range from very simple to elaborate. Though the recipes may not be as exotic and complex as those in The French Laundry Cookbook, they're still very refined, and don’t opt for any shortcuts.

According to Keller, “Whereas The French Laundry Cookbook is about using the ideas and techniques of classic cuisine as a springboard for the imagination to create new dishes, Bouchon is about maintaining classic traditions, renewing our respect for those great dishes, holding them up to the light to understand them, in order to perfect them. To that end, the recipes detail the important qualities to strive for in each dish . . . and the techniques you’ll need to achieve them.”

And according to Jeffrey Cerciello, chef at Bouchon (the restaurant), “These dishes are made and served in home kitchens and restaurants throughout the world, so what distinguishes one onion soup from another, one lemon tart from another, is not a recipe so much as a standard of technique.”

To put Bouchon’s recipes to the test, I chose two simple recipes, roast chicken and pomme frites, and two lengthier recipes, onion soup and duck confit.

Roast Chicken: There’s not much more to this recipe then salting, trussing, roasting, and resting. But it’s very delicious and satisfying. The meat is moist and almost creamy. I actually prefer this recipe over the roast chicken recipe from the Zuni Café that I normally use.

Pomme Frites: Another simple recipe that works very well. There’s nothing particularly special about this recipe. As you might expect, it involves frying the potatoes first at a low temperature, before frying them again at a higher temperature to get a crisp exterior.

Onion Soup: I thought this soup actually tasted better the longer it sat in my refrigerator. My guess is that either the flavours developed over time, or that it tasted better the more I reduced it. It’s a very satisfying dish, particularly on a cold day. The comté cheese, toasted baguette, and soup make a wonderful combination. I was a bit surprised by the preparation time: seven hours for the beef stock, four hours to caramelize the onions, and another hour of reduction.

Duck Confit: Admittedly, I don't remember if I’ve ever eaten duck confit before, so my basis for comparison is limited. I was impressed by the incredibly tender meat, but more so by the crisp skin which lay on top of a thin, molten layer of fat.

In the future, I hope to try many more recipes from this book. The recipes for rillettes, quiches and gnocchi are dishes that I'd never thought about making, but now they're on the top of my list.

Overall I’m very impressed with Bouchon. For the recipes, stories, pictures and knowledge that I’ll gain from using this book, it’s well worth the price. A few things that I wish had been included in the book are: more discussion about wine pairings, a glossary or a separate index of terms, techniques and tools, weighted measurements for pastry recipes, and a larger selection of viennoiseries such as croissants and palmiers. But again, Bouchon is exceptional compared to just about every other cookbook I’ve seen. If you’re interested in hearing more about this book, check out this radio interview which Thomas Keller and Jeffrey Cerciello did yesterday on QKED.

Comments

I would probably recommend Bouchon because it's more practical for every day cooking, and it still has many dishes that are very impressive. The ingredients used in Bouchon are also much easier to find and are usually less expensive. I think that many of the techniques are actually better explained in Bouchon, and the book itself is better organized and covers a broader area than the French Laundry Cookbook.

The French Laundry Cookbook however, is very helpful for learning how to prepare and use exotic ingredients like foie gras, truffles, and caviar. Its recipes are also more spectacular and creative, and great for special occasions. Even if you end up buying Bouchon, you'll probably be able to find more than a few French Laundry recipes floating around the Internet (or on my blog :)

You can't keep tempting me to buy new cookbooks! I just bought Culinary Artistry (And am, for the record, loving it!) after you wrote about it for IMBB 9. But I do love the French Laundry cookbook, so this is bound to go under the Christmas tree, be it as a gift from myself or someone else!

Hi Zarah Maria - I'm glad you like Culinary Artistry; when I first saw it, I was very surprised that something so useful actually existed! Autumn always seems to be a great time for new cookbooks. For whatever reason, they all seem to come out within a few weeks - it's very hard just to choose one or two!

I apologize for commenting so late in the game, but I found this entry via Chubby Hubby. My own copy of Bouchon is almost falling apart from having cooked from it so often (but its poor brother cookbook, French Laundry, has barely been cracked open (but this is probably because we have an 8-month-old baby around--no time for elaborate cooking!). The onion soup is our New Year's Eve tradition and the green salt is the most brilliant part of the duck confit (I use the method in The Zuni Cafe Cookbook for the exhaustive commentary). My husband and I make the lentils vinagrette at least once a month (I can make it with my eyes closed) and the financiers are simple and rewarding. And we too like the simple roast chicken recipe better than Zuni (which used to be my favourite as well!). The quiches, however, I find overwhelming in their richness.